Volume 7, No. 5, May-June, 2006

Starvation deaths in the tribal belts, suicides in the cotton tracts of Vidarbha and child malnutrition and deaths throughout the State — such is the dismal picture of one of the richest States of the country, Maharashtra. One can imagine the state of affairs in the other States where data may not be half as well documented. The following reports have been coming in the main-line media and is based on official and semi-official data. These are normally understatements; the actual reality would be far worse. Besides, living the stark reality is far more horrifying that what dry statistics can reveal.

The life in Mahrashtra’s countryside and slums is to be compared to the malls and multiplexes coming up in the elite enclaves of the urban rich. It is two worlds; two countries. There is little in common between them. And in this age of globalization these two worlds are getting further and further apart. One, a fairyland of wealth; the other an abyss of destitution. One, being more and more sanitized from the filth and muck around; the other being marginalized/ghettoized more and more. With all government funding, planning, ‘vision’ statements, investments, subsidies, projects, and economic focus being geared towards the formers, the countryside and slums get merely the crumbs off the elite table. Market economics of globalization demands this warped development, no matter how cruel it may be for the masses. And since market economics is the main agenda today, things can only get from bad to worse in the days to come.

Maharashtra has also been a supposed test-case for the much propagated Employment Guarantee Scheme which is now sought to be introduced in the entire country as the panacea to rural poverty. Maharashtra has had this for over three decades now. But what is its impact on the rural poor is there for all to see. Surveys have shown that 50% of the funds are eaten away in corruption, and even of the balance, the target group of the poor rarely got much benefit under the EGS.

There are 2.5 million cotton producers in the eight districts of Vidarbha. Suicides (official) are now at two to three a day. The agrarian crisis in Vidarbha has now spun out of control. Vidarbha’s mainly cotton growers have been hit by rising cost of inputs and the crash of output prices. They have also been ruined by the collapse of rural credit. About 90% of households are indebted to the loan sharks, of which only 5% are taken from the cooperatives and banks, usually because of a previous default. The bulk have to depend on the rapacious moneylenders who extract approximately Rs.500 interest every four months on every Rs.1,000 borrowed. (Tehelka 17/12/05) since 2000, most of the moneylenders are also traders, loaning seeds and fertilizers, and then taking away the crop at highly reduced prices. The moneylenders have been seizing not only the farmer’s lands but also their household goods. They have also been crushed by fake seed dealers due to the mindless de-regulation of the distribution network.

The situation is reaching nightmarish proportions with farmers committing suicide by the hundreds each year, the main cause being DEBT. The Maharashtra government is callous beyond limits. Not only does it plays down suicide statistics it is introducing Hitlerian measures to crush the rural population ruthlessly. And as for the opposition, most of the worst hit districts have Shiv Sena MLAs. So explosive is the situation that the Sena MLA from Akola had to perform the theatrical stunt of ‘attempting suicide’ in the Nagpur Assembly; earlier he had been chased out of villages where farmers had committed suicide.

The Maharashtra government first said that only 140 farmers had committed suicide in the five years from 2001 to 2004. Later it raised the figure to 523. In October this year it said that 300 farmers had committed suicide in just one of the 11 districts — Yavatmal. Of these only 11 had received compensation. Obviously this too is an understatement, as to be defined as a "farmer" the land must be in that person’s name. Now the official figure is another 524 suicide death for just the one year 2004. One reason for such understatements is that if the land is in the old father’s name the son’s suicide will not be counted as he will not be a ‘farmer’. Also, as is normal, many suicides are put down as natural deaths. It is estimated that in the last decade 3,000 farmers have committed suicide.

Until November 2005 only 168 farmers have received the promised Rs.1 lakh compensation. The government’s regulations to claim the compensation makes it near impossible for a family to get it. A family has to fulfill 42 conditions, ranging from a Below Poverty Line ration card to the loan having been taken from a bank or cooperative, to qualify for compensation. These conditions are ridiculous and obviously only those will get it who can grease the palms of the local official and sarpanch. The end result is that only a small proportion of the loan amount will remain in the hands of the victim.

In Maharashtra until today the entire cotton crop has been bought by the Cotton Federation and private sale was banned. When hundreds have already been taking their lives the Maharashtra government this year has reduced the price of cotton by a massive Rs.550 from Rs.2250 per quintal last year to Rs.1700 this year. This amounts to a massive price reduction of 22%. If inflation is counted at the modest rate of 10%, it means a reduction in price of over 30%. When hundred were taking their lives when the price was Rs.2250 one can just wonder what would be their fate this year when they are given the measly Rs.1,700, which is well below the cost of production. The government admits it costs around Rs.2,200 to produce a quintal of cotton. This amounts to nothing but wholesale slaughter of thousands of innocent farmers and their families. But this is not all.

The Cotton Federation deducts previous loans and interest thereon before paying the sale price. It also pays the farmer late and in installments. So, many farmers resort to distress sales at a price of Rs.1,400 per quintal and also to the private moneylender for loans. But, so what if hundreds of peasants are taking their lives, cotton must go cheap to the big business textile and garment industries so that they can maximize their profits. The Federation supposedly set up for the farmers is a highly autocratic body which has not had an election since it was set up in 1972, with farmers having no say in its decisions and has been a mere tool in the hands of the powerful textile lobby.

Besides, it was the government itself that has pushed the farmers into the arms of the moneylenders. It was the withdrawal of bank guarantees by the Maharashtra government that pushed them into the clutches of the moneylender. Way back in 1935 the British set up land development banks that loaned farmers money at lower rates of interest. The Maharashtra State Cooperative Agricultural Rural and Multipurpose Development Bank (MASCARDB) gave long term loans while the district LDBs (funded by MASCARDB) gave short term and medium term credit. MASCARDB had 20 lakh members and have been lending up o Rs.200 crores annually till 1996/97. Of this Rs.190 crore came from NABARD under a state government guarantee. But in 1996 the Shiv Sena government turned off NABARD funding. By November the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank ran out of resources and was put up for liquidation. As a result of this the peasants are being pushed deeper and deeper into the arms of the moneylenders who charge anything from 30-50% interest at the minimum. As a result only 8-10% farmers have access to institutional credit. Private money-lending has to be registered according to the Bombay Moneylenders’ Act; but of the over one lakh moneylenders in the State, hardly 5,000 are licensed.

Meanwhile the State Government has helped boost private traders who lift the farmer’s produce at rock-bottom prices. Also there is no restriction on the dumping of cotton from America and elsewhere and the import duty on cotton is a mere 10% while that on sugar is 60%, on rice it is 80% and on second hand cars it is 180%. The low prices is partly due to the crash in international prices where the US alone subsidizes its 25,000 cotton producers to the tune of $ 4 billion i.e.Rs.70 lakhs a year for each farmer!!!

In addition input costs have been going up each year. Bt cotton area has increased by 30% due to the massive promotion of these seeds by high-level advertising by Ministers, officials and film stars. Some film stars have earned lakhs through this promotion; all recovered from the farmer through high costs of the seed. This implies even higher input costs. And some of them have sown two, even three times in the same season after being hit by crop failure. The situation is explosive.

In 2004, upto 80% of cotton growers harvested BT, genetically modified seeds produced by Monsanto. When actor Nana Patekar, the brand ambassador of Monsanto, toured this region least year to promote BT, his public meetings had a huge impact. Farmers went for BT in a big way. The seed, with prices ranging above Rs.1,600 a packet (compared to the normal hybrid variety of Rs.450 a packet) have demonstrated no sustainability in the parched environment of Vidarbha. This year the fungal infection Lal Rog stuck the fields. The withered cotton, branches red in colour, make a depressing sight. In the shadow of the failed harvest, stands an entire family, emaciated and hungry. "Monsanto’s claim that a test application would involve minimum pesticides and maximum yield has proved fatal" says a representative of a local peasant organisation. Meanwhile, while the cotton farmers have been destroyed even further Monsanto and film actor Nana Patekar have made a small fortune. Both should be treated as criminals and lynched by the masses. It is they who should be forced to pay the farmer’s debts.

But the government is not merely looking the other way it has resorted to Hitlerian measures. The state government passed an Act that will make irrigation water charges one and a half times more expensive for those farmers having more than two children. They will also be barred from taking part in local body polls. Now liquor will be freely sold in shops and stores. Further, according to the Water regulatory Bill passed by the Maharashtra Assembly this year, farmers must pay Rs.580 per acre of water every month!! Besides, there is no dearth of government funding and subsidies, but these are all for the ‘welfare’ of the bosses of the co-operative movement and their ilk. Vidarbha is in fact the hunting ground for money-grabbers of all types.

As we go to the press the horrifying effects of the low cotton prices and other factors are already coming forward. In the five months from Sept to March 2006 the number of suicide deaths is three times that of last year. Since June last year the official figure is 400. In October the figure was 20; in November it was 52; in December 72; in January this year it was 68, in March it peaked at 77. It is from October that the government reduced the price of cotton by Rs.500 per quintal!!

The government has totally abdicated responsibility with a conscious bid to kill the cotton farmers. It has consciously pushed the farmers into the arms of the private traders. Last year there were 411 official centres to procure cotton; this year there are only 185. In this season the Cotton Federation had purchased a mere 6.3 lakh quintals compared to 185 lakh quintals last year. The private traders are paying a mere Rs.1,600 per quintal which is hundred rupees less than the reduced MSP price. It is distress sales. Not only that, the cost of inputs have gone up by 25% over last year; and due to disease of the Bt cotton total production is expected to be down 50 lakh tonnes. The farmers have been hit from all sides. We can expect the suicides to spiral in the coming months. The government could not be bothered as big business is getting cheap imported US cotton, with import duty at a mere 10%. {The data on cotton is based on articles appearing in The Hindu by P. Sainath}

As though the debt woes are not enough the Mahrashtra farmers are also beginning to face the horror of electricity privatization. In February farmers from far-flung areas of Maharashtra had planned to lay siege to the Mantralaya. The "Gophan Morcha" (sling-shot procession) was to highlight the inadequate power supply in the rural areas, which has aggravated after the privatization process was begun.

After the trifurcation of the Maharashtra State Electricity Board, power distribution has been so erratic that consumers in Southern Maharashtra have been agitating against the newly-formed Maharashtra State distribution Company (MSDC). Protest rallies have become frequent in both rural and urban areas with consumers resorting to stone-throwing and gheraoing of the MSDC.

Farmers complain that load-shedding is frequent and unscheduled. Besides, they allege that they are charged exorbitant bills despite load-shedding.

Ever since its formation the MSDC has been facing periodical agitations and attacks on its offices. Protests are being reported from several parts of the state. In Ichalkaranji powerloom owners recently stormed the MSDC’s office over frequent power cuts. A similar incident was reported from Kasaba Bawada on the outskirts of Kohlapur. The protesters not only broke up the furniture but also severed the connections and damaged files. In Sangli irregular power supply has hit the waster supply system. Farming operations have been affected in rural areas with transformers and electric motors getting burned, thereby putting additional burden on the power consumers. Rasta roko and attacks on the MSDC’s offices have become commonplace in the area.

But suicides are only the last resort of the frustrated. There will be lakhs and lakhs living on the brink, in deep debt, but trying to somehow survive. Today one major added expense is illness. With the government resorting to massive cuts on the public health system and the cost of medicine skyrocketing a large party of rural family expenses are going on healthcare. In a survey it has been estimated that 21% of all Indians have stopped seeking medical aid as they cannot afford it. They live in perpetual illness only to finally pass away. Ofcourse, their death will be put as a natural cause.

The collapse of rural credit, soaring input costs and falling output prices, disease and destitution were themes greeting the NCF team everywhere. Vidarbha’s farm community stands exhausted. There was a suicide death by a farmer every12 hours while the team was in the region. There have been many more since they left. The toll has been mounting since June. There were 29 reported in just the one month since Sept 26th.

The tale of Vidarbha is a tale being repeated in all regions of the country. In the developed countries farmers are subsidized so that they live well. But this is not so in the backward countries like India. Here neither is there the motor of capitalist/industrial growth that can give employment, nor are the farms able to be drawn into scientific farming. The backward semi-feudal relations in the country is the main reason for this where the peasants have no capital, are confined to small plots of land, and are looted by the rural elite (moneylender, trader, landlord if there, officials, etc). And over-and-above this have come the horrors of the green revolution and then globalization. While not basically touching the relations of production the capitalists/imperialists have drawn even the impoverished peasantry into their clutches and are extracting the last drop of blood from their already emaciated bodies.

For the Indian peasantry all roads lead to hell. For them revolution is the only possible relief. The revolutionary movement in Gadchirolli is not far off. Ironically the least effected are the tribal belt is the regions of naxalite influence in Gadchiroli, Chandrapur and Bhandara. Here the people are no longer exploited by their employers and fleeced by one and all, from the officials, to the traders, to the police and the rural elite of landlords and moneylenders and even the doctors. In these areas wage rates are relatively higher due to their struggles, the exorbitant interest rates no longer exist on loans, they can no longer so easily be fleeced by the forest officials, police, traders, doctors, bureaucrats, etc. Therefore relatively their condition is far better than that of their fellow tribals in the districts of Amravati, Yavatmal, Nandurbar, Dhule, Nashik and Thane.

After the Shetkari Sangathan of Sharad Joshi betrayed the farmers, falling at the feet of the WTO/IMF/WB combine, the movement has been in the doldrums. But the last week of November witnessed a series of dharnas and sit-ins. And this movement drew not only farmers but also playwrights, professors, teachers, journalists and many others. A new awakening is taking place. Due to the opposition the government was forced to give some temporary reliefs, but the bulk of these will remain only on paper as they target only the moneylenders who wield power and fear in the countryside.

Today the major beneficiaries of the destitution of the cotton farmers are the textile and fashion industry. Spending crores on their high profile fashion week and designer clothes, such vulgar display of fashions were only possible due to their super-profits squeezed out of the blood of the cotton farmer’s destitution. Cotton being the major input for the entire textile and fashion industry, the huge drop in prices is a bonanza for this sector. The glitter of fashion week is built on the horrors of the starving cotton farmer. Villagers throughout Vidarbha have put up boards "kidneys for sale", "village for sale".

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